444 A FLORA OF MANILA 



On ledges along small streams, Masambong, and in gardens, Singalon, 

 fl. Nov.-Dec; widely distributed in the Philippines. An endemic form 

 of the Malayan H. reptans T. And. 



16. BLECHUM.P. Browne 



Branched herbs, glabrous or hairy, with entire leaves. Flowers small, 

 solitary or in pairs in the axils of large foliaceous bracts, arranged in 

 dense terminal spikes. Calyx 5-parted, the segments narrow. Corolla-tube 

 slender, straight or curved, somewhat enlarged above, the limb of 5, spread- 

 ing, subequal lobes. Stamens 4, in 2 pairs, inserted above the middle of the 

 corolla-tube. Ovules 3 to many in each cell. Capsules ovate to orbicular, 

 base shortly contracted. Seeds usually many. 



Species 4 or more in tropical America, 1 introduced in the Philippines 

 and in some other tropical countries. 



1. B. BROWNEI Juss. 



An erect or ascending herb, the stems often prostrate and rooting 

 below, 20 to 50 cm high, sparingly hairy or nearly glabrous. Leaves thin, 

 ovate, 5 to 10 cm long, entire or nearly so, acute, base decurrent-acuminate. 

 Inflorescence terminal, spike-like, the flowers mostly in pairs, each pair 

 subtended by a leaf-like, ovate, persistent, 1 to 1.5 cm long "bract and two 

 smaller bracteoles. Flowers small, white. Calyx 4 to 5 mm long, hairy, 

 5-lobed, the lobes linear. Corolla white, tubular, hairy, slightly curved, 

 about 1.3 cm long, slightly exserted from the bracts. Capsule ovoid, 

 acuminate, somewhat compressed, about 6 mm long. 



In waste places, roadsides, etc., common, fl. all the year; widely distrib- 

 uted in the Philippines. A- native of tropical America, now naturalized 

 in the Philippines, Formosa, Marianne Islands, etc. 



130. PLANTAGINACEAE (Plantain Family) 



Herbs with usually radical leaves, the flowers small, greenish, often 

 dimorphous, in spicate scapes. Sepals 4, imbricate in bud, persistent. Co- 

 rolla hypogynous, salver-slaped, scarious, the lobes 4, imbricate in bud. 

 Stamens 4, on the corolla-tube; filaments. slender, inflexed in bud, persistent; 

 anthers large, pendulous, versatile. Ovary free, 2- to 4-celled; style fili- 

 form, with 2 lines of stigmatic hairs; ovules solitary and basal, or several. 

 Fruit a 1- to 4-celled capsule, circumsciss, thin, with 1 or more seeds. 

 Seeds small, usually peltate, testa thin, albumen fleshy; embryo cylindric, 

 transverse. _ 



Genera 3, species over 200, represented in the Philippines only by the 

 following introduced genus and species. 



PLANTAGO Linnaeus 



Characters of the Family'as given above. (The Latin name.) 



1. P. MAJOR L. Lantin (Sp.-Fil., corruption of Sp. llanten) ; Plantain. 



A perennial herb, the leaves all radical, petioled, entire ov obscurely 

 toothed, oblong or oblong-ovate, 5 to 10 cm long, about 6-nerved, the petiole 

 often as long as the leaf-blade. Spikes 6 to 12 cm long, erect, slender, the 

 flowers usually crowded, the bracts small. Corolla small, the lobes spread- 

 ing or reflexed. Capsules ovoid, about 3 mm long. Seed 8 to 16, angular. 

 (Fl. Filip. pi. SO, P. media.) 



Occasional in gardens, rarely in waste places, fl. Jan.-March. Introduced 

 from Europe by the Spaniards, now naturalized in some localities in Luzon. 



